pretty, not beautiful
by lovelylehanna
Summary: Thanks to her mother, Evie thinks she's only pretty. Her boyfriend and Snow White show her that she's actually beautiful.


Evie was raised by her mother to value beauty the most. She was never allowed to have one hair out of place or eat a lot of sweets. A prince would never make a gluttonous girl with messy hair a queen.

Despite all of her best efforts, she would never be more attractive than her mom. The Evil Queen had said this to her daughter since she was a child. "Don't feel bad, young one. I did set the bar very high after all."

Besides being one of the prettiest girls in the world, the Evil Queen also told Evie that she needed to find a prince in line to be king that had a castle (specifically with a mother-in-law wing and lots and lots of mirrors).

The first prince she had set her eyes on was Prince Ben, son of King Adam and Queen Belle. He was already taken by Princess Audrey (later her best friend Mal) and was clearly not interested.

The second prince she sought out was Prince Chad, son of King Charming and Queen Cinderella. He was handsome and rich, but a jerk that hated villain kids. He was her first heartbreak.

Then Evie realized she had fallen for someone, but he wasn't a prince. He was a dwarf's son. How could she fall for non-royalty, and even worse, the child of her mother's enemy?

She just couldn't get his gorgeous eyes out of her mind, but all the princes had nice eyes. No, what really made her fall for him was his good heart. The princes tended to be superficial and rude to the VKs, while Doug was humble and kind. He, although fearful, accepted them as soon as they arrived.

Maybe dating non-royalty wasn't so bad. However, if she didn't marry a prince, she at least needed to be the fairest in the land. She needed to make herself perfect, even more beautiful than her mother and Snow White. She needed to have perfectly plump lips and a tiny waist like them.

"Evie!" she heard her boyfriend shout. He came running up to her, huffing and puffing.

"Wrong fairytale." She giggled at her joke.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nevermind. Was there a reason you came running over here?" She sweetly smiled.

Doug had a sudden nervous look on his face and did the "hi-ho" thing he did before. He blushed, embarrassed that he let himself get flustered by her beauty. "Uh, I wanted to know if you wanted to do something..."

"And that is?" While waiting for the answer, Evie neatly stacked her sketchbooks that were scattered across the table.

"Do you want to meet my parents? You know, Dopey and Mrs. Dopey?" Doug managed to keep a grin on his face, but he was scared on the inside. What if she didn't want to meet his parents? No, they were soulmates. True love's kiss worked on him.

She stopped stacking the books. Her hand was shaky and her smile faltered. "Your parents?" she whispered with her eyes shut.

"Yes. Don't worry! They're excited to meet you. They don't care who your mom is," he assured her, allowing her to exhale.

"I'll be happy to meet your parents then."

...

Evie stared herself down in the mirror. Her hair was gorgeous, her dress was wonderfully made, and her makeup was on point, but she still didn't look beautiful. She looked full, rather.

"I shouldn't have had those chocolates Doug got me yesterday. Mom always told me to stay away from treats. Why didn't I keep her advice?" the girl groaned. "I'm surprised this dress still fits!"

Doug said that Snow White would be at the dinner, too. Evie had to look stunning if she didn't want to embarrass herself. "Snow is probably thinner than me."

She heard on knock on her bedroom door. It was probably her boyfriend coming to pick her up. "Wow. You look amazing."

"Thank you," she responded. "I could look better, though."

Doug frowned. She sometimes was way too negative about herself. "I don't see how you could look even more gorgeous."

"Are you kidding? I must have gained a pound or two this week! Look at my stomach," Evie glanced down at her abdomen.

He shook his head, knowing the reason why her stomach was slightly bigger. He had specifically bought her candy for comfort. "You're just bloated right now. That's normal for females during that time of the month."

"Did it have to arrive the same week I'm having dinner with your parents and Snow White?"

She walked outside with him in silence. It was not until they had reached the car that Doug spoke, "Do you think my parents care about how you look or something?"

"No," Evie honestly answered.

He studied her face while trying to come up with an explanation for her actions. It suddenly hit him. "Are you intimidated by Snow White?"

Her eyes widened. She wasn't expecting Doug to guess that. "A little...a lot."

"Why?" He took her hand and rubbed circles on it using his thumb.

"She's the most beautiful woman in the world. How could I not be intimidated by her? I'm even close to beautiful. I'm just...pretty." The word seemed to leave a bitter taste in her mouth, almost like it reminded her of something terrible.

"My dad told me the difference between pretty and beautiful when I was young. He said that pretty just means someone looks nice. Beautiful means that someone looks nice and has a good heart."

Evie smiled. "That's nice. My mom always told me that beautiful is a step above pretty. It had nothing to do with heart. My mom said she is beautiful and I'm just pretty."

"Even if it doesn't have anything to do with character, you're still beautiful. Have you looked in the mirror recently? And no offense, but your mom isn't going to win Auradon's Next Top Model anytime soon," Doug told her. He was pleased to hear a laugh escape her lips.

"What? And I would?"

"Yes," he nodded. "You're more attractive than any of those women."

Evie gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Oh, I'm glad I have such a sweet boyfriend like you. You know, you're not too ugly yourself."

"Oh, really?" he mused.

Evie and Doug spent the rest of the car ride chatting about lighter things, such as Evie's fashion business, until the couple arrived and were greeted by the seven dwarves, their wives, Snow White, and King Florian. At the sight of the queen, Evie was suddenly reminded of her insecurities. She tried to focus on what Doug told her instead of worrying.

"It's so nice to meet you, Evie," said the sweet voice of Snow White. She looked even more beautiful than Evie thought she would. "We're stepsisters, you know."

Evie's warm smile seemed to fall slightly. "Oh, yes. You're right. I hadn't even thought about that." She forced a chuckle.

Dopey sensed Evie's discomfort, so he spoke next, "Doug has told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope." She was happy, no pun intended, to talk to anyone other than Snow. She didn't feel insecure while talking to Doug's parents and uncles.

"Mostly," Doug's mother joked. Evie, however, was worried that she wasn't just joking. Had her boyfriend said anything bad about her? To, gasp, Snow White even?

Doug held Evie's hand, intertwining their fingers. "Shall we go over to the table?"

"Oh, yes!" Snow perked. "Dinner should be ready in five."

"Good, I'm hungry," said one of the dwarfs. Evie couldn't tell most of them apart. Doc had glasses and Grumpy looked upset but other than that, she had no clue.

Food was placed in front of everyone. One of the dwarfs was eating faster than the rest. Was there a Hungry? She should know this! They're Doug's uncles after all!

Evie felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Snow of all people. Why did it have to be her? "I must say, you're very pretty."

She hadn't expected Snow to compliment her. The fairest woman of all was complimenting _her_. It was an honor. "Thank you! You're beautiful." Beautiful, something Evie wasn't. She was only pretty like Snow said.

Snow White placed a hand on her heart. "That's very sweet of you."

"I'm just stating a fact," Evie said with a smile.

Snow turned to her sort-of-nephew who was sitting to the left of his girlfriend. "You're a lucky boy."

"I am," Doug agreed. He looked fondly at Evie before turning back to his food.

...

Dinner was over, and the group moved to another room in the castle. The dwarfs were currently telling Evie stories about young Doug, with him sometimes interrupting in embarrassment.

Snow waited for Bashful's story to be over before asking, "Can I speak to Evie in private, please?"

"Of course, your majesty."

The blue-haired girl tensed up and wondered what her stepsister wanted to talk to her about. All of the possible topics raced through Evie's brain. Most of them were bad.

Snow White and Evie Grimhilde walked over to another room that nobody was in. The women sat next to each other in cushioned seats.

"Since you're my sister, I wanted to get to know you better," Snow explained. "How was being raised by your mom? I know she can be...all about looks."

Evie shrugged. "She was my mother. She made sure I knew the exact amount of calories, carbs, and fat in everything I ate by the age of seven. It got a little annoying at times, but that's just the way she is."

Snow had a look of horror on her face. The Evil Queen was even worse with Evie than she was with Snow. She didn't try to murder her daughter, but still. "What else was your childhood like?"

"She put a lot of emphasis on making sure I knew how to apply my makeup. I've been doing it by myself since I was five." Evie seemed to be proud of that fact, while Snow was disturbed that a mother was making her daughter wear makeup as a kid.

"How much makeup?"

Evie thought about the question for a moment. "Lipstick, blush, mascara, foundation, concealer, eyeliner...the essentials."

"A full face of makeup for a _child_?" she questioned, "What was your mother thinking?"

"Importance of beauty needs to be introduced to a child at a young age. That's what mom always said." Evie didn't appear upset at all that the Evil Queen made her wear a pound of makeup as a kid. It was normal to her.

Snow White put a hand on her stepsister's shoulder. She spoke in a soft voice, "She shouldn't have treated you like this. You were just a child. Plus, that can cause major insecurities later on."

That was true. Evie's current thoughts were evidence of that.

"My mom wasn't all bad," Evie defended, "She taught me how to cook, and clean, and sew, and perfectly whiten my teeth."

"Did she teach you that true beauty is on the inside?" Snow argued. She desperately wanted her stepsister to see that the Evil Queen wasn't a good mom.

Evie pondered on the question. Did her mother ever tell her that? "Once or twice, I think, but she said princes notice outer beauty more than inner beauty."

"Now, that's not true. Doug, although not a prince, cares more about character and personality than looks."

"I would hope," she said in a low voice.

Snow's interest was piqued. It was a curious thing for Evie to say. "Why?"

"It's not like I'm the most beautiful or anything. I'm pretty, not beautiful. My mother's beautiful."

The woman sighed. She knew the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Who told you that?"

"My mom."

"Is that why you said I was beautiful after I said you were pretty?" Snow White realized.

Evie nodded. "Yeah."

The woman looked at her sister with sad eyes. The girl had grown up believing she wasn't as attractive as her mother, causing raging insecurities. Snow knew that she needed to be more than a big sister to Evie. She needed to be a mother-figure from now on.

"Evie?"

"Yes?"

"You're beautiful."


End file.
